


this is fact not fiction

by lealila



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-03-31 06:31:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3967981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lealila/pseuds/lealila
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma brings Storybrooke back to life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	this is fact not fiction

**Author's Note:**

> takes place during the season four finale. 
> 
> title from "a lack of color" by death cab for cutie

_ this is fact not fiction _

_emma brings storybrooke back to life_

Emma closes her eyes, and somewhere, Storybrooke comes back to life.

There is the concept of time passing—years and years, and in the back of her mind, she wonders how much of this fake history is _real_. She wonders if she is going insane, and that Storybrooke really is just a dream.

But then she remembers Henry, and Regina. She remembers Mary Margaret and David (her _parents_ ), and Hook and Neal and Graham. They are all very, very real, and her love for them all is not fake. The memories of them—of holding or kissing or being _near_ them—are almost tangible and she knows, in her heart of hearts, that she could not have made any of it up.

(She remembers Henry coming to her for the first time with that book that started all of this. She remembers his desperation and his lost demeanor. She remembers that no one—especially herself—would believe him.

This is not the first time she has thought—or talked—about this, but Emma wonders how tortuous that must have been, to live in a world where time stood still and nothing could be done to change it. She wonders if this is how Henry felt, almost three years ago—that somehow, the stories in his book were actually fake and the fairytales were just an escape from reality like Archie said, back before the Curse broke.

People call her brave, but she thinks Henry must be the bravest of them all, for still believing, for still fighting to grasp at a life where freedom is an actuality instead of a concept. Henry was brave for defying the standstill of time and leaving safe Storybrooke to fight for the life he wanted.)

Time passes, and she knows this is not the end (knows, somehow, that Henry will come for her because that’s what he does) but it is a hard thought to hold on to. Re-creating home makes it a little bit easier.

Magic lessons with Regina. Hot chocolate with cinnamon on the kitchen counter with Mary Margaret. Late nights listening to David tell Henry more stories about the Enchanted Forest and the other lands surrounding it. Visiting Neal’s and Graham’s grave when her mind gets too foggy to think anymore; dinners at Granny’s Diner with her family and Regina and Hook, laughing until the sun comes up.

Memories play in her head, over and over again, until she thinks the only thing keeping her grounded are the chains around her wrists.

It’s a little bit disconcerting, but it is enough, she thinks, to keep her home alive in her heart until she and Henry can make these wrongs turn right again.

Emma closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, Henry’s standing in the doorway, desperate and lost. She is reminded, painfully, of the first time this happened, but instead of uncertainty and confusion, familiarity and love settle in her chest.

_Henry_ , she thinks, and somewhere, Storybrooke takes a breath.


End file.
